10 days in Sydney starting June 25th 2009
 

I have booked a hotel room at the Rydges World Square for myself doing a quick trip to visit a friend that attends Univesity. I need suggestion on some differnent things to do around the University area or around the hotel. Has anyone stayed at the Rydges World Square before??? I booked a regular room for $110Au per night

Which University? The closest two to World Square are UTS and Sydney, but there are three others in Sydney. UTS is fairly close to Chinatown and the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney Uni is close to Newtown and Glebe (both interesting neighbourhoods).

Can you also tell us a bit more about your interests it makes it easier to recommend things to do.

There's also the MacQuarie University in NW and cannot remeber who the affiliation is with but one university has other suburban campuses.

But sticking with your hotel as a base and if friend has a break between semesters, June is not such a bad month for exploring Sydney and surrounds as it will be cooler but not overly cold and so good walking weather.
www.131500.com.au will give you an idea on public transport and you may want to consider a travelpass, there even being one that you could buy to include train trip in from the airport unless hotel has a pick-up service.

But I would make a beeline for Rocks area and Visitor Information Centre there where you can get a lot of information on Sydney including themed historical walking trails.
There're ferries to get you to Manly or Watsons Bay for North or South Head, Coastal Cliff walk from Bondi, National Parks to north, south and west[The Blue Mountains], all accessible by public transport.

A Hawkesbury River mail boat run you can go on from Brooklyn and another ferry that goes from Pittwater around into Hawkesbury River and it's also a ferry ride across from Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo if you like, a free bus to top entrance for the easy way of seeing it from top down.

Sydney itself has a few Museums, The Rocks for history and dining and Royal Observatory in that area, The Opera House [book a show/tour] and Botanical Gardens off to right off main ferry terminal called Circular Quay but nothing circular about it!, Darling Harbour and the Queen Vic building for some great window shopping if not buying and then of course the bridge that offers climbs for about $200 or just take a ferry across to Milsons Point or Kirribili and walk back across, historical display/lookout in SE pylon being a cheaper option at about $15.

Sites like www.sydney.com.au will have more detail and links to other sites, and with ten days you could even consider some day trips to further afield, Hunter Valley wineries for instance.

Hi Susan
Thank you for the reply. The University my friend is going to is on Goulburn street not to sure how close that is to my hotel. I'm pretty active I live in Colorado. Have traveled in Europe for the last few years so I do alot different things from hiking,concerts,musuems etc...

Hi Bushranger
Thank you for the reply and the suggestions.

I absolutely love the Harbour bridge climb! A great way to see the whole city and a good orientation if you are from out of town.

Hmmm that's a puzzle I wonder what tertiary institution could be in Goulburn st, it's not one of the main Universities. Anyway, you will be very close to Goulburn St at World Square. That end of the city, particularly George St, can be a bit rough on the weekends, so maybe just watch your steps on the weekend.

You are close to the monorail, buses and trains, so getting round will be no problem. In the immediate city area there are a number of museums: Australian Museum (natural history), Powerhouse (design museum), Art Gallery of NSW, Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum of Sydney (history of the city).

They are all worth visiting, the Museum of Sydney is the most innovative of the museums in terms of presentation, encouraging interpretation and the form of the exhibits is exquisite, often designed by major Australian artists.

Definately take a ferry trip as a very cheap way of getting onto the harbour. I'd also highly recommend doing the walk from Bondi to Bronte Beach.

For hiking there are a number of national parks not far from the city, the most accessible without a car is probably the Royal National Park, you can get there by train. Kuring-gai National Park, can be reached by ferry from the northern beaches, the Blue Mountains is probably the most popular which is further out, but also accessible by train.

There are 38 recognised universities in Australia (35 public, 3 private). As far as I could tell from a brief search, none of them has a campus in Goulburn Street, Sydney.

All I could find there was something called the Macquarie Institute, which clearly is not a university but a commercial training company. It has a limited range of offerings and despite its name appears not to be affiliated with Macquarie University or with that body's Macquarie Institute for Innovation.
(URL: www.macquarieinstitute.com.au)

The city's universities are Sydney University (SU), the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), Macquarie University and the University of Western Sydney (UWS).

If it's not listed on the official peak-body site www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au it's not a recognised university.

I think there is a University of Notre Dame but to the best of my knowledge it is in Oxford Street, Darlighurst not Goulburn Street.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I need to look up all the suggetions get back with more questions. Thanks again for all your help.